Nancy Pelosi's tough new rules
 

Nancy Pelosi's tough new rules


If, as many of the experts and polls are saying, the Democrats win the House of Representatives, then it follows that the loftily titled Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2006 should pass, at least in the House.

After all, the public is fed up with congressional ethics, or perhaps more to the point, the lack of such ethics. In every poll or focus group, at every town hall meeting or rally throughout this campaign, there have been calls for reform.

The act is a tough document, authored by Nancy Pelosi, the San Francisco-area congresswomen who has been the Democratic House leader since 2002. She will likely be the House Speaker if the Democrats win next Tuesday.

Here are some of the new rules Pelosi wants:

No House member may accept any gift of any value from lobbyists, or any firm or association that hires lobbyists.

No free travel, which means an end to the corporate jet line every Friday at Reagan National Airport.

No free tickets to Redskins games; or no meals of any value, even at a McDonalds; no front-row seats at entertainment venues. No, no and no.
Temptations resisted

To reduce temptations to cheat, Pelosi's bill attacks the usefulness of members to richly endowed lobbyists.

House members will no longer be able to slip in special-interest projects on unrelated legislation. Such measures will no longer be allowed on a bill once negotiations between the Senate and House are complete.

Further, all bills will be made available to the public a full 24 hours before a final vote; presumably this gives watchdog groups a chance to flag any skullduggery.

Under the Pelosi rules, lobbyists will no longer be able to use the House gym (you'd be surprised how much gets negotiated in a sauna). Lobbyists will no longer be allowed onto the House floor or to use the cloakrooms just off the floor, preventing last-minute arm-twisting.

What's more, no member or staffer will be able to negotiate for employment in the public sector without disclosing such contacts to the House Ethics Committee, and within three days of such contact being made.

Finally, all of this will be audited and investigated by a new Office of Public Integrity, and that office reports, directly and only, to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

At this point, you'd be entitled to ask, "heard this before, what makes you think it will be accepted by Congress?"


More..

"House members will no longer be able to slip in special-interest projects on unrelated legislation. Such measures will no longer be allowed on a bill once negotiations between the Senate and House are complete. "

Dear god please!

Could be a nice change. But then again campaign finance reforms like the McCain–Feingold bill have failed to make people trust that their congressmen aren't in the pockets of large corporations. Is this bill just another coat of spackle on an ever-widening crack?

Well, it’s not as tough as congresswoman Pelosi would have people believe. I’ll give two examples.

Example #1: This is really a three-pack. The first three proposed rules deal with gifts, travel, meals and entertainment for free. If it’s not free, it’s OK. So if the Representative pays something, even a small “token” payment, the rules are bypassed.

Only gifts from lobbyists or firms/associations that hire lobbyists are prohibited. Gifts from other sources (like rich businessmen) are OK.

Example #2: Free tickets to Redskins games are specifically mentioned, but no other sports events are mentioned. So, free tickets to other sports events may not come under the proposed rule. LOL, Pelosi must not be a Redskins fan.

Hey, if the Dems can pull off cleaning up government, good for them. I’ll take a very cautious wait-and-see approach on that.